"Mom, really, I'm okay! It's not necessary that dad takes the next flight!"

Casey rolled the eyes. For about twenty minutes now he tried to convince his Mom that nothing serious had happened to him during the earthquake yesterday. She had been drenched in tears when she finally had reached him - after ten long hours where she had tried in vain to get in contact with him.

He knew she didn't want to embarrass him. She was worried. She always worried about him since he had left Ohio three months ago to go to Boston to college. The town was so much bigger than Herrington and she was sure there would be perverts everywhere. That he refused to move in with his four years older cousin Will who lived near Boston but decided to share a room with a boy she didn't even knew, was not very helpful too. Probably he didn't eat enough and slept too little. And did not everyone talk about the excessive drug use at colleges?

When he had forgotten his weekly phone call one Saturday because he was up to his neck in work, his Dad had to use all his persuasive power to stop her to alert the whole police department of Boston.

And now the earthquake. It had met the east coast all of a sudden. Everyone knew about the huge fault-line there but it had been inactive for so long. Casey assured his Mom again that nothing had happened except that a few of his books had fallen off the shelf. But he secretly had to admit that it indeed had been a strange experience.

His roommate had had his 20th birthday last wednesday and they wanted to celebrate a bit. A few other boys and girls had come, they had ordered pizza and everyone was in a good mood when suddenly the room started to shake. They had looked at each other bewildered, not knowing what was going on.

Casey remembered his first - and once only - drugs experience. Just a bit weed, but he had felt dizzy, the room had started to move up and down and around ... around ... around. Afterward he had just felt sick and had never tried it again. So ... no drugs! At least not for him.

He had reached for his plate when it started to slide from the table. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see John doing the same with two cokes. When the books were fallen off the shelf he had started to realize what was going on. But before he could panic, it had been over ...

He almost missed the knocking at the door. Probably one of their neighbors, who wanted to borrow a cigarette or a bit shampoo. Or someone needed help again with a complicated homework. Everyone seemed to expect that Casey would be able to help. Well, to be honest, he liked it this way. It was so much better than to be the class geek, bullied or ignored by everyone.

His mom demanded his attention again.

"No, Mom, I can't come home now. We are stuck in the middle of an important homework and I ..."

"Oh ... hey ... ," he heard John, his roommate, saying who had just opened the door."Casey hasn't told me that you want to come by!"

"Is he okay?"

Casey blinked and searched for hold at the phone. Maybe the shock was more deep-seated than expected. He started to hallucinate. But when he turned his head to the door he gasped for air."Holy shit!"

"Casey? What's happened?"The concerned voice of his mother far away in Ohio brought him back to earth again.

Then he hung up without listening to her protest. He felt thunderstruck. This was suppost to be a dream. But he knew, it wasn't. Zeke! It was Zeke! His best friend back in Herrington High. His long missed best friend. They hadn't talked for almost five month now. Since he had decided to go to Boston. To MIT. Zeke should be here too. Zeke was a fucking genius even if he always tried to hide it.

Casey had never been so furious ... and disappointed ... before as in the moment when Zeke told him that he would go to the Community College in Columbus. He had always dreamed about it. He and Zeke, together in Boston, sharing a room, working on interesting projects, having a lot of fun together ... They had had a bad fight. Finally Zeke had slammed the car door and was vanished with squealing tires.

But now he was standing here, right in the middle of Casey's room. Looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Casey shook his head to convince himself that he was not just dreaming."Zeke? What the heck ... ? What ... what are you doing here?"

"I needed to see you. Make sure that you're okay!"

"Urgh... what? Why?"

"Damn, Casey, I was scared that I would never see you again! The earthquake ... yesterday ... when the news came through ... All I could think about was you! So I got into my baby and ... here I am!"

"You were driving all night long? Are you fucking crazy, Zeke?"

The loud ring ... ring made him jump. John rolled his eyes and reached for the phone.

"Oh god!"Casey was still struggling with all his feeling. He looked from Zeke to the phone and back to Zeke. Finally he shrugged apologizing and grabbed for the phone again.

"Hey Mom...

Mom! Please, listen to me! I'm sorry, but... It's Zeke, you know.

No! No, he's not in Ohio. He's here in Boston.

Yeah. Yeah, I will do this.

Okay! I'm gonna call you tomorrow, promise. Love you, mom!"

He hung up and smirked."She says, as long as you are with me she's not gonna worry any longer!"

Zeke chuckled and suddenly he moved. Got closer and closer. And even more closer. Instinctively Casey took one step back and giggled nervously."Zeke, what..."

In the next moment Zeke's hands were holding his face. He bent down and ... his lips met Casey's. It was a breathtaking kiss, deep and rough and desperate but so warm and soft and ... wonderful too. It seemed to last for minutes, hours maybe ... the time had stopped.

Casey stared at him incredulous, eyes big as saucers and the mouth opened in a round O. He was just glad that Zeke still held him tight and safe because his legs suddenly felt more wobbly than during the earthquake.

I guess Zeke knew about his feelings for longer but he was too afraid to admit it. And his mom is ... just his mom, always worried about her 'little boy'. But it seems to help that now Zeke is there to take care of him. ;)